W (1974)

Truly Dreadful Film

Best movie ever!

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Twiggy is a very good actress. She has given stellar performances in "The Young Charlie Chaplin", "The Little Match Girl", "Madame Souszatska". One would not know what a fine actress she is from this film. It was a poor follow-up to "The Boyfriend". The problem is that the script is awful and the direction leaves a great deal to be desired. Twiggy has had much more success in TV programs such as "Tales From the Crypt", "Bodybags", and the ill-fated 1991 sitcom, "Princesses" (which was given the kiss of death by being put on Friday night!) shows what a marvelous knack she has for comedy. Don't judge Twiggy as an actress from this poorly written and directed lusterless thriller. She really is a fine actress in good material.

I have nothing against or for Twiggy. She's had a few good songs but she's just not much of an actress. When she's cast as a singer (like in "The Boy Friend") it works. But, in a straight suspense drama like this, she's hopeless.To be honest I have trouble remembering the exact plot. I caught it years ago on late night TV and had trouble staying awake! She plays a woman who was married to an abusive husband who was jailed. Now she's happily married but starts thinking her abusive husband is stalking her--but he's in jail. Is she going crazy or is he free? A "thriller" with no suspense, no blood, no action, no NOTHING. It moves at a crawl and Twiggy's attempts at acting are just painful to watch. It's not entirely her fault--the script is against her all of the way. Boring and deservedly obscure thriller. You can easily skip this one.

Much of the good will that Twiggy generated with her surprisingly accomplished and star-making turn in 1971's "The Boy Friend" was undermined by this agonizingly thrill-free thriller about a couple (Twiggy and Michael Witney) terrorized by an unknown killer who keeps scrawling or painting a "W" at the scene of every crime.What was sweet and halting about the former model in Ken Russell's film comes across as stiff and self-conscious here. Looking and acting like Hayley Mills' less-talented sister, Twiggy is stuck with a role that is undefined as it is unsympathetic.Bad as she is, she's the only person worth watching in an undistinguished cast (though I'm sure she was happy to have met and later married co-star Witney in real life) nor is there much fun to be had in watching her get batted around in the final scenes. As much as I like her, she's pretty much terrible in this film which may have played a part in her lackluster screen output since her dazzling debut.

A passable suspense film. Most memorable is Eugene Roche; playing a yeah-yeah-seen-it-all-before detective, he's responsible for a lot of the credibility.Someone should have realized you can't call a film W. These one-character films, like M and $, always wind up embracing a fallback title.